my wish
by Synesthesiae
Summary: I only have one wish and that wish is in a bottle flowing in the sea, waiting to reach the horizon. I can wait an eternity for that wish to be fulfilled.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan.**

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><p>They were back. They got the antidote. The organization was brought down not without many sacrifices, not without countless bloodsheds. But after all these long, agonizing years, they had finally brought the most evil organization in the history of evil organizations down.<p>

As soon as he popped the pill into his mouth and impatiently awaited the transformation, she was already standing nearby as if afraid he were going to vanish any moment.

Then, he was back. She was so happy she cried.

"Don't cry, you crybaby," he had teased and laughed as she tackled him in a hug.

"Shut up, you silly!" That made her cry even more.

_She _was standing close by – not too close to be noticed by the couple – with the antidote in her hand.

"Aren't you going to take it, Ai?" the professor asked.

Ai shook her head. "No, not right now. I need to think about this."

"Think? About what?" Confusion was evident on his face.

Shoving the pill into the pocket of her blood-stained jacket, she answered while looking at Shinichi and Ran. "Whether I really want my old life back," she spoke softly.

**o**

**o**

**o**

Sometimes, Shiho wondered if she had made the right choice.

Now, ten years from that fateful day, she was standing alone on the shore of a beach. Said beach wasn't a far drive from the city so she took the bus.

Ten years was a really long time. Professor Agasa was kind enough to offer her a place to live permanently. He'd said that she was really smart and that she could help with his inventions. Together, they would become famous, make it into history and tons of money, and become rich.

"Two scientists together can accomplish anything!" he'd said triumphantly, and she only smirked.

She'd always known that he loved her like a daughter and since he didn't have any family, neither did she, she felt it her responsibility to take care of the old man who had saved her life more than once.

The bad thing about it was that she had to live with the bitter memories right next door.

Right after they – Shinichi, Ran and Shiho (she decided to go with that name) – finished college, Shinichi and Ran announced their engagement and marriage soon followed. Shiho once again withdrew into her shadows, silently watching.

The newly wed couple had moved back into Shinichi's house and lived there since. Every time Shiho came home or left the house, she was greeted by the smiling faces of Ran and Shinichi. On more than one occasion, Shiho was invited over to their house for dinner but she always declined. Ran never understood. She suspected that Shiho never liked her as a kid but now they're all adults, shouldn't she have changed?

That's exactly the question she had brought up to her husband, who had brought it up to Shiho.

That evening, when Shiho was walking home from work, Shinichi was already waiting outside her house. He was leaning against the wall in his usual way, with hands dug casually in his pants' pockets, black disheveled hair blew gently in the wind. As soon as his eyes befell her, he straightened up.

"Yo, Shiho," he said and it reminded her of his Conan's days.

"The Great Detective, to what do I owe this pleasure? If you're here to arrest me then I'm sure you got the wrong person. It wasn't me who set off the fire alarm this morning," she said coolly.

Shinichi chuckled and shook his head. "Shiho, you never changed," he said softly.

Her nails dug into the leather strap of her shoulder bag and she replaced her frozen mask.

"No, I never did," she answered. "So what is it, Kudo-kun?"

"Well, it's…"

And he, being himself all honest and frank, told her the real reason why he's here without sugarcoating it.

That's when she knew she had to leave.

Now, as she was standing here on the shore of the beach that they, the Detective Boys, had frequented, she suddenly felt so lonely. Back then, there were always the kids to keep her mind off things. Right now, even though there were people around, a veil still seemed to close about her, isolating her from everyone and everything.

Shiho started going through her shoulder bag until she found what she's looking for. Pulling out a small bottle such as a milk one, she brought it up to examine it under the last dimming sunrays. Inside was a piece of paper on which words were written. Her words. Her wishes. Her hopes.

"Is it really true?"

A voice said suddenly, loudly enough for her to become startled and almost drop the bottle. Clutching the bottle close to her chest, she turned around only to be face-to-face with Shinichi. Her eyes widened slightly.

"Kudo-kun…"

He was still dressed in his detective clothes and she had to admit that he looked good in suits. But of course she'd never admit it aloud. Never.

He was panting. Sweats were dripping from his hair, and it suddenly dawned on her that he must have run here.

"Is it really true?" he repeated, wiping the sweat away on his sleeve.

"What are you talking about?"

"About you leaving. About that silly bottle myth."

"It's not silly-"

"Are you really leaving, Shiho?"

Shiho took a deep breath. She fully turned so that she was now looking at him. They were only mere feet apart but she knew the distance could never close.

"Yes, I am," she said quietly.

"Why? First of all, where are you even going?"

"I thought you already knew since you managed to figure out that I came here," she said, smirking slightly.

Shinichi narrowed his eyes. "I had to interrogate the professor. It took a lot of convincing, Shiho. At first, he wouldn't give you up but when Ran broke down crying, he gave in. But that was it. I didn't have time to ask more because I thought I might… have missed you."

The sounds of the seagulls filled the silence between them.

"I see," she said quietly. Bringing up a free hand, Shiho carelessly tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "Well, I'm going to America."

"What? Why?" The confusion was evidently and painfully there. "I thought this was your home?"

"It was. Not anymore. Too many bad memories." She was fighting to swallow back the tears. "I have some relatives over there and they said I'm welcomed to live with them. They're on my mother's side and I have an aunt who works in a laboratory. She can help me get in. I have experiences, I-"

"But why?"

Shiho blinked in an effort to bite back the tears. "Why…" she repeated slowly.

"Why are you leaving in the first place? What happened, Shiho?"

She looked away out onto the endless sea.

"Shiho?"

"Kudo-kun, let me ask you something." She showed him the capped bottle with a piece of paper within. "You don't believe in this stuff, right? If I write a wish on a piece of parchment, roll it up, put it in here and let it flow out to the sea to the end of the horizon, then my wish might come true one day."

Shinichi was shaking his head. "Come on, Shiho. A woman of science like yourself shouldn't believe in nonsense like that."

A small smile graced her features. "I do when all I have left is faith," she replied.

"What are you even talking about? You didn't even answer my question!"

Smiling to herself, Shiho stepped out into the cold waters, feeling his eyes watching her every move. Then, she slowly lowered the bottle into the waves. When she let go, it along with the waves went out into the open sea.

"Shiho…" There was defeat in his voice. He knew there was no changing her mind or getting her to tell him what he wanted to know. _They _both knew.

"Maybe one day my wish will come true…" she said softly to herself. The tiny, mysterious smile was still dancing on her lips.

Turning around to face him one last time, she said, "Goodbye, Kudo-kun. It was a real pleasure meeting you and getting to know you."

"Wait, Shiho!"

He reached out his hand but other than that, the gap between them never closed, like she had suspected.

_What I told you before when Ran lost her memories was true. I am in love with you, Shinichi Kudo and I wish that I could just forget everything and have no shame being with you. That is my wish._


End file.
